 NATO says it can deploy 3.5 million soldiers if attacked NATO in accordance with its new defense plans can deploy 300,000 soldiers in the first month of a potential attack on the block while the total number of the alliances military personnel could reach 3.5 million people chair of the NATO military committee Admiral Rob Bauer said according to Sputnik media outlet If we are talking about collective defense you do not have the time to prepare for an attack if the attack happens And it is not us planning the attack It is the opponent planning the attack if they attack you have to be ready Therefore, we need more soldiers at high readiness We are talking in NATO as a whole if Finland and Sweden have joined of about 3.5 million soldiers in the alliance So the 300,000 is the number that we foresee at high readiness available for basically the first 30 days If it is necessary Bauer told reporters at a press conference with Norwegian chief of defense general Eric Christopherson In July NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said that the block approved new defense plans at the Vilnius summit under which NATO Would have 300,000 soldiers at high readiness and member states would invest at least 2% of gross domestic product annually in defense